On the strength of three first-period goals and a three-point (1+2) performance from Arttu Ruotsalainen, the Rochester Americans (18-10-0-0) earned a 5-2 victory over the visiting Hartford Wolf Pack (14-9-2-2) Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
The Amerks have won 10 of their last 13 games, and dating back to the 2017-18 campaign, Rochester has earned wins in five of the last seven contests against Hartford. The Amerks have recorded at least one point in nine of the previous 11 exchanges, going 7-2-0-2 over that span.
Ruotsalainen duplicated his effort from this past Sunday in Hartford with a goal and two assists in tonight’s rematch and now has six points (2+4) in two games against the Wolf Pack this season as well as eight points (2+6) overall in 10 games with Rochester. Jack Quinn, who returned to the lineup Wednesday, recorded a goal and an assist for his third multi-point in the last for games dating back to Nov. 26. The rookie forward has 10 points (3+7) over his last seven games and is now within two points of reclaiming the AHL’s rookie scoring lead.
Ryan MacInnis (2+0) and Nick Boka (0+2), who made his Amerks debut, both recorded a pair of points for a multi-point game. Linus Weissbach chipped in his sixth goal of the slate.
Ethan Prow, who was assigned to Rochester earlier in the day along with Brett Murray and MacInnis, earned an assist on MacInnis’ first-period marker. Mason Jobst and Michael Mersch both recorded an assist to complete the scoring.
Goaltender Aaron Dell made 28 saves of the 30 shots he faced to improve to 5-0-0 on the slate. The veteran netminder made his first appearance since Dec. 18. In each of his five games this season, he has made 25 or more saves.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
The Amerks close out their busy stretch of games of three games in four nights in a rematch with the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].